Most years, I hunt down spooky tunes for my annual play list. This year, the spooky tune crept and leapt across the floor, slid and glided (glid?) under my door, and all around my wall. This year, the theme is the Blob!

I heard the unmistakable refrains of The Blob theme song, by Burt Bacharach and the Five blobs, on a Spanish language radio station. You can hear more about my descent into madness here.

I could not find a comprehensive list of songs about the Blob, so I knew that I must build my own. Unfortunately it seemed that every electronica band, by law, must label one song on each album ‘the blob’. Many hundreds of songs later, here is my handpicked list of 13 tunes you can and should play at your Halloween party.

The Blob Theme Song by Burt Bacharach and the Five Blobs – We begin with the original and mutate wildly from here.

La Burbuja by Liberacion – Here is the Spanish version that will make you shake your ‘burbuja’.

La Burbuja by Manuel ‘Loco’ Valdes – A very strange version by a Mexican comedian that has a lot to say about love, heart ache and banishing people to Japan.

Wolfman Jack sings The Blob (with The Jaggerz) – Now we have Wolfman Jack singing a song about The Blob SONG, in which he compares the theme itself to a monster that infests your brain.

The Blob by Sleaford Mods – This is a relatively new song by a british punk duo and it is delightful.

The Blob That Ate Everyone by Smashy Claw – A very literal approach to the subject that mixes melancholy strains with indy rock.

Green Slime by Richard Delveccio – This 70’s acid rock song is about a slimy monster from outer space, so I’m including it on the blob list. This jam will scream across your mind!

The Blob by Groovy Ghoulies – This punk song compares a selfish lover to the Blob

I don’t just make a podcast, The Six Demon Bag, I eat, sleep, and yes, even listen to podcasts. I’ve been collecting and refining my library for years. Here is a partial list of some mainstream shows and a few hidden gems for you to try.

It’s called The Six Demon Bag, and if you get that reference you’ll dig our show. If you don’t get the reference, we’ll surely win you over with our healthy recipesflirty fashions political discourse grab bag of topics guaranteed to include things like science, writing, movies, comics, games, anime, true tales, ponderables…all that kind of thing!

The Season of the Witch is upon us, and once again I have conjured songs for your Halloween party. The theme for this year is Witches. There are too many great weird songs to choose from, so I used arcane magicks to pick my lucky 13.

Turn on any classic rock station and you’re bound to hear Love Potion No.9, I Put a Spell on You, Black Magic Woman, Witchy Woman or a ditty by Fleetwood Mac. This list is not meant to be comprehensive. I’m scooping down deeper into the cauldron and tossing back any tune you can’t dance to.

Come, have a sip of strange brew and listen for a spell.

Season of the Witch by Donovan (This isn’t No. 1, it’s the introduction)

Devil Woman by Cliff Richard (The 60s and 70s- the golden age of witch songs)

Swamp Witch by Jim Stafford (I love these southern fried stories full of creepy bayou atmosphere. “Snakes hang thick from the Cyprus trees, like sausage on a smokehouse wall.”)

Marie Laveau by Bobby Bare (This is a novelty song, but it harkens back to the time when everyone knew about the Witch Queen of New Orleans.)

Marie Laveau by Dr. John (This song does the Witch Queen more reverence.)

Voodoo by The Neville Brothers (Voodoo songs are often songs about love)

Voodoo Woman by Curtis Knight (or love lost)

Voodoo Woman by Koko Taylor (The next chapter in Curtis’ story?)

One Eyed Witch by The 7th Court (The manic energy of the electric organ just sounds like Halloween)

Abracadabra by Steve Miller Band (The cheesy fx of this music video had me spellbound as a kid.)

She’s My Witch by Kip Tyler (Let’s down tune for some Rockabilly and a few rippin’ guitar songs)

Here’s another 13 songs for your Halloween party. The theme for this year’s mix is Horror Movies, featuring songs from scary movies or about movie monsters. While there are many throat-shredding, head-banging heavy metal bands that write nothing but monster odes, this list will even appeal to mullet-challenged individuals.

If you think a song is missing from this list, you may find it included on a previous list here, here, here and here.

Batman, Wolfman, Frankenstein or Dracula – The Diamonds

There are many songs about B-Movies from the 50s and 60s, but I like this one because it’s about a girl who can only be amorous when watching monster movies.

Beware of the Blob! – The Five Blobs

I don’t know what else Burt Bacharach and his band The Five Blobs sang about, but this is the definitive song about blobs.

Human Fly – The Cramps

Bzzzz bzzzz bzzzzzz!

The Creature From the Black Lagoon – Dave Edmunds

I like how simply the love story is laid bare in this catchy tune.

The Howling – Babel

This entire song is performed live several times in The Howling 2: Your Sister is a Werewolf.

Big Bad Wolf – Bunny and the Wolf Sisters

This is the song from the prom at Teen Wolf to which the Teen Wolf dance is choreographed. Dear God I love this movie.

This song was performed live in Lost Boys, and the saxophone player really brings the heat.

He’s Back (the Man Behind the Mask) – Alice Cooper

This movie is written about Jason Voorhees for Friday the 13th part 6. Not only does the music video have Cooper in a hockey mask running around a theater showing the movie, Jason himself makes a cameo.

Dream Warriors – Dokken

Not to be outdone, Dokken made a music video for Nightmare on Elm Street Part 3 where they rock out so hard they give Freddy Krueger a nightmare.

Do the Freddy – The Elm Street Group with Freddy Krueger

Did somebody say FREDDY? Two rap songs weren’t enough, so Freddy cut an album with The Elm Street Group that will definitely give you nightmares. Other highlights include ‘Dance or Else’ and ‘Down in the Boiler Room’.

Feel free to suggest more songs in the comments. I hope you enjoy the music and have a Happy Halloween!

My short story Le Pain Maudit is now available in an anthology of all new mythos fiction from Arc Dream Publishing.

These are 18 case histories ranging from the late 1940s to present day by some of the most popular writers in the horror and RPG field.

Here is the table of contents

“The Color of Dust” by Laurel Halbany.

“PAPERCLIP” by Kenneth Hite.

“A Spider With Barbed-Wire Legs” by Davide Mana.

“Le Pain Maudit” by Jeff C. Carter.

“Cracks in the Door” by Jason Mical.

“Ganzfeld Gate” by Cody Goodfellow.

“Utopia” by David Farnell.

“The Perplexing Demise of Stooge Wilson” by David J. Fielding.

“Dark” by Daniel Harms.

“Morning in America” by James Lowder.

“Boxes Inside Boxes” and “The Mirror Maze” by Dennis Detwiller.

“A Question of Memory” by Greg Stolze.

“Pluperfect” by Ray Winninger.

“Friendly Advice” by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan.

“Passing the Torch” by Adam Scott Glancy.

“The Lucky Ones” by John Scott Tynes.

“Syndemic” and an introduction by Shane Ivey.

I have been a fan of Delta Green since the U.S. military stormed the blighted town at the end of ‘Shadow Over Innsmouth’. The paradigm of military vs. monsters is thrilling because we think monsters aren’t real. When you delve deeper into the military and intelligence side, however, the ground does not get more stable. The secrets you learn do not make you feel safer. This is a world of paranoia and murder. This is the real world, where even now people with unlimited budgets are scrambling to invent the next existential threat before ‘the other side’ can.

My story follows from two disturbing chapters in recent history. The first was the revelation of the CIA’s Project MKULTRA, which attempted to develop mind control techniques that they tested on innocent people without their consent.

The second was the strange tragedy known as ‘Le Pain Maudit’, the outbreak of mass hallucinations that ravaged a small French village in 1951. Some theorize that the local baker’s bread was contaminated by ergot fungus. There are clues, however, that suggest the CIA had dosed the town with LSD.

Here is an excerpt from Le Pain Maudit:

Frank, Gerhard and John stood shoulder to shoulder, watching through the two-way mirror. Edward was negotiating with Monsieur Tatin over wine, cheese and bread. John filmed the proceedings with a purring film camera.

Frank idly scratched his pen on the metal clipboard balanced on his forearm while he observed the German. Gerhard marked his log each time Tatin took a bite or sip. He checked a stop watch and smiled.

“Any moment now.”

Frank pulled off his headphones and whispered.

“What did you dose him with?”

“Shwarzlotos.”

“Black lotus?”

“Ja, a potent hallucinogen. It enhances the truth-serum effects of LSD.”

A crash from the main room turned their heads.

Monsieur Tatin had dropped his wine glass and stumbled against the wall. Edward eased him into a chair.

“Relax, monsieur. It’s all right.”

“Je suis désolé, I do not feel so well. I just….”

Monsieur Tatin twisted to stare into the firelight. His eyes had dilated into gaping black holes.

Gerhard’s scratching pen fell silent. Frank looked over. The German had closed his eyes in an expression like prayer.

Tatin gripped the edge of the table and shook.

“I’m being pulled inside. I’m sinking! In the crypts, they dwell…fungal things…silently waiting. I’m frightened! They know I am there! They know!”

He spewed a stream of bile across the table and collapsed. Edward hurried over and checked his pulse.

“Monsieur?”

Tatin looked around with blurry, bloodshot eyes. His pupils were returning to normal. He finally noticed Edward standing over him.

“What happened?”

“We drank too much, monsieur. Let me walk you home.”

John turned off the recording equipment. Frank pretended to finish his notes while watching Gerhard. The German gathered the remaining food and wine with great reverence, like a priest handling sacraments.